In 2013, I picked a word for the year. It was the first year I did that.

I chose Transformation.

And oh boy did transformation happen.

I picked words for the year every year after that.

In 2019, I decide to experiment with Monthly words, too. Starting with August, I chose Sanctuary for my word that month. I was, at the time, waiting on what the next steps would be in a process that I needed to go well so I could buy the house I was living in. It went well.

I did not choose my word for September 2019. The word for that month popped into my head, and wouldn't leave until I accepted it.

Surrender.

That month is now known as Bloody September in my lore. My now-ex husband pissed me off on my birthday, I hexed him two days later, which was Friday the 13th, and on the 16th, he had an accident with his gun which resulted in an arterial wound. I had to clean up SO much blood, but my virtual village on Facebook got me through.

Of course, I posted about all of this on Facebook - the Surrender being my word for September, my friends and followers cringing along with me, getting halfway through the month and finding out why Surrender refused to leave my head...

So at the end of September, when I put up a post offering to give people a Word for October, tips optional, it did really well.

So well that I did Monthly Word posts every month until the end of last year, took a half year break from them because I was burned out, and am resuming them for the rest of the year cuz I'm ready to do them again.

Just a word.

One single word.

I share a bunch of ways to work with the words - journaling, contemplative techniques, creating art, etc. But even people who don't do any of that, who just get a word, report that they're freakishly accurate. So they keep coming back for more.

At the end of 2020, I added Seasonal Vows to the mix. Eight single words. All S-words cuz I like alliteration. Study, Structure, Simplicity, Stewardship, Stability, Sustainability, Service, Sanctuary. I revisit them yearly, sometimes changing one or two of them to better fit how my life evolved in the past year. For instance, Study and Structure are new this year because I returned to college at the beginning of the year.

Not long after, I mapped a personal development framework I'd been working on for years - B.E.N.D. - onto a weekly cycle that starts with Boundaries the first week of the year, goes through Expectations, Needs, and Desires, repeating perfectly to start again the next year.

I also modified the Planetary Planning system I'd been using where I'd plan my week according to daily themes associated with the planets connected to those days. Like Mercury was all about communication, so I make phone calls that day.

Year + Season + Month + Week + Day

A single work to focus on for each period of time, a total of five words in focus on any given day.

Today?

Identity
Sustainability
Intention
Boundaries
Reflection

What do I do with them?

I notice when they show up in whatever I'm consuming for the day.

I create journaling prompts and answer them - AI is really good at doing that, but even just reading the words begins to tune the brain in particular directions.

This is how I've been making personal and spiritual progress for a few years now.

It gives that work focus without being rigid or dogmatic.

It's not verses or mantras, just words.

Words I have to examine my relationship with.

My 2022 Word was Discipline. That was an interesting year, and a word I had a conflicted relationship with. It's much better now.

I couldn't give you an exact mechanism for why the words work or exactly how they'll make your life better.

I just know that they do.

And so do the many people who follow me on Facebook and clamor for the Word post every month.

Mostly, I think it's just that it's an easy way to focus on an area of life. When you focus on it, you start to notice changes that can be made. Make the changes, things improve.

But because it's just a few simple words, it's so much easier to focus on it. There's no dogma to disagree with.

It's just a word.

And somehow, words are magic.

I'm cool with that.

Like everything, I'll keep doing it as long as it works for me.

Would you like a Word?